The prosforo this week was provided by Regina Christodoulou and Juliana Dancer.

Please check the sign-up sheet in the hall for opportunities to sponsor the Sunday fellowship in 2015.

The 2015 Metropolis of Chicago Family Synaxis Men's Retreat will be February 6-7 at the St. Iakovos Retreat Center. Registration is open now. More information about the presenter and the topics will be posted at: www.gocfamilysynaxis.org/mens-retreat

The schedule for house blessings has been mailed and emailed. Please let Fr. Peter know as soon as possible if you need to reschedule, as lent begins the last week of February

Note on the Sunday Liturgy: Following several individual discussions about our services and consideration of the topic at the recent Parish Council meeting, the following hymns will be sung in both Greek and English: the Cherubic hymn, the Axion Estin, the pre-communion hymn (Psalm 135: Exomologisthe), the communion hymn, and the final hymn. For all hymns except Exomologisthe we will sing the whole hymn in Greek, then English. For Exomologisthe, we will sing each verse in Greek then in English.

Stewardship corner

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.’ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

God is not dependent upon us for the advancement of His cause. He might have made the angels his ambassadors of Truth. He might have made known His will as He did on Mt. Sinai in thunder and lightning. But, in order to cultivate a spirit of stewardship in us, God has chosen to use human beings to do this work.

Every act of self-sacrifice for the good of others will strengthen the spirit of stewardship in the giver’s heart. Every act of self-sacrifice for the good of others will make the giver closer to Christ, who “was rich, yet for our sakes became poor.” All of the good gifts God gives to us will prove only a curse, unless we use them to benefit others, and to advance the cause of Christ on earth. (from On Stewardship and the Orthodox Life at acrod.org)

If you haven’t done so yet, please fill out a pledge form for your 2015 stewardship! So far in 2015 we have $67,803 pledged out of $108,480 budgeted.